RESEARCH MODEL OF
MONITORING THE RECOVERY OF AN ECOSYSTEM AFTER FIRE BASED ON
SATELLITE AND GPS DATA

Nataliya Stankova, Roumen Nedkov

Abstract:
The aim of this study is to monitor the post-fire recovery of
an ecosystem. The test area is located in Southeastern
Bulgaria, Haskovo region, where a significant fire took place
in the summer of 2007. To achieve this goal, satellite images
from Landsat 5 (TM), Landsat 7 (ETM+), and Landsat 8 (OLI)
have been used. The model that has been developed is built on
three main components – Disturbance Index (DI), Vector of
Instantaneous Condition (VIC), and Direction Angle (DA).
Tasseled Cap transformation (TCT) has been used and Tasseled
Cap components have been generated as input data for the
model. Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) has also
been generated and the correlation coefficient between DI and
NDVI has been calculated. The model has also been validated by
means of aerial images with high resolution on the territory
of the fire.

Abstract. Cobalt’s (Co) wide use in the
industry, in medical devices, as food perservative, in
consmetics requires detailed study on its biological effects.
The aim of the study was to elucidate the effect of chronic
treatment with cobalt(II) compounds – cobalt chloride (CoCl2) and cobalt-EDTA (Co-EDTA) on organ weight indices in
immature and mature mice. Pregnant ICR mice were treated daily
with 75 mg/kgb.w.
or125
mg/kg b.w.
of CoCl2or Co-EDTA until day 90 of the
newborn mice. The compounds were dissolved in regular tap
water.The control mice obtained
regular tap water. All experimental animals obtained food adlibitum. On day 25 pn the newborn mice
were placed in individual cages and the treatment continued
until day 90. Each week mice were weighed to adjust the dose.
At different periods – day 18, 25, 30,
45, 60 and90
mice were sacrificied. Spleens, liver and kidneys were
excised, weighed and organ weight indices - spleen index (SI),
liver index (LI) and kidney index (KI) calculated. Chronic
exposure to Co(II) compounds resulted in alterations in organ
indices – SI, LI, KI. CoCl2 increased SI in immature
mice, while Co-EDTA affected the spleen mainly of mature mice.
Co exposure led to an increase in LI in Co-EDTA-treated mice.
The index decreased when CoCl2was administered. Kidney
index (KI) on the other hand was significantly increased in
day 30 mice after treatment with CoCl2. The
compound had little or no effect on KI of mature animals. The
effect of Co-EDTA was diverse and no clear tendency was
observed. The results indicate that the biological effects of
Co(II) depend on the type of compound, the duration of
exposure and as well as on the age of the experimental
animals.

STUDY OF THE DYNAMICS OF FLOATING REED ISLANDS IN SREBARNA LAKE
FOR THE PERIOD 1992-2014, BASED ON SATELLITE, GROUND AND GPS
DATA

Iva
Ivanova

Abstra
ct. This
study is about the dynamics of floating reed islands in
Srebarna Lake during the period 1992 - 2014. Srebarna Lake is
part of Natura 2000, European ecological network. Srebarna
Lake is declared as Srebarna Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO, and
categorized as a supported reserve.

Floating reed islands
are important for the breeding of different water bird
species, some of which are endangered species. They are unique
for Europe as water bird habitats and they are presented only
in Srebarna Lake and the Danube Delta. Focused research on the
area and spatial variability of the floating reed islands have
not been performed yet due to their difficult accessibility
and the lack of data about their dynamics. Study of the
floating reed islands dynamics (absolute and relative motion)
could be done only by high-tech methods, based on remote
sensing from space, using appropriate sensors to register
parameters of this unique kind of unsystematic landscape
units. The results from this research have been grouped in
specialized geodatabase. A methodology for studying the
dynamics of area, size, and location changes of the floating
reed islands has been proposed. Based on this methodology the
quantitative results for habitat’s ecodynamics in Srebarna
Lake have been received. A coefficient of relative area (KM),
showing the attitude of the habitats to the area of central
water body have been introduced which is used as quantitative
assessment of this habitat’s dynamics. The results of the
study have been used in monitoring management plans of
Srebarna Biosphere Reserve. Tracking the floating reed islands
attitude is essential for investigating the dynamics of these
specific habitats for endangered bird species nesting.

Abstract:
Global character of ecological issues induced by natural
resources consumption volumes determines a strategy of
mining industry development consisting of reducing
mining-induced impact on environment at increasing minerals
production and processing efficiency. The methodology has
been developed of integrated solution of tasks on solid
mineral deposits exploitation based on informational
technologies of objects modeling, mining-benefication
industrial processes and geotechnologies. The methodology
ensures increase in efficiency, industrial and ecological
safety of production and processing of mineral raw material.
Concerning the Kola mining industrial complex were developed
innovative production and processing technologies for ore
and mining-induced mineral raw material, water-preparation
and waste water purification as well as rehabilitation of
rock dumps.

Water Management System and Its
Related Environment in Mala Omer Catchment Area in Erbil
Governorate/ Kurdistan Region of IRAQ

Dana Mawlood, Awaz Hussein

Abstract:In the future,
societies will face hard challenges to meet global water needs
and sustain the environment. The present study was conducted
to evaluate water management system and its related
environments in Mala Omer. Data were collected and information
abstracted using site visits and interviews .The average
annual rainfall is 518.5mm, and only 18.7% recharged into the
ground.Seventy-five
wells were observed to abstract water for different purposes.
Groundwater suffered huge depletion in water level between
years 2000 and 2014. Water resources are largely gone
unmanaged and inadequate capacity of management’s impacts was
clearly evidenced on the longevity of water supply services.

INFLUENCE
OF FOOD INDUSTRY WASTES AS SUBSTRATES ON THE YIELD OF
BIOSURFACTANTS OF THE STRAIN PSEUDOMONAS SP. PS-17

Ilona
Karpenko, Galyna Midyana, Oleksandr
Karpenko,Volodymyr Novikov,

Abstract.The effectiveness
of the application of economically-sound substrates (glycerol,
used frying oil and phosphatide concentrate) for the synthesis
of rhamnolipid surfactants by the strain Pseudomonas sp. PS-17
was established. It was also shown that the use of combined
(mixed) substrates contributed to the increased concentrations
of rhamnolipids if compared to the media with monosubstrates.
When using a mixture of glycerol and used frying oil or
phosphatide concentrate as carbon sources the concentration of
rhamnolipids can be increased to 16 g/l. The possibility of
application of the obtained biosurfactants in agriculture as
plant growth regulators was established. The developed
approaches to the synthesis of microbial surfactants will help
to balance the overall cost of biosurfactant production.

Abstract. The
technologies for biogas production, based on anaerobic
digestion, become more and more widely applied in the
practice in Bulgaria and worldwide. Most of them have
problems such as ineffective biogas production and/or
production of biogas with low quality. The monitoring of the
processes solely by chemical, physical and technological
parameters is not sufficient and is the reason for the
ineffective performance of the technologies. There is need
to be implemented strategies for functional control of the
biological system carrying out the process of anaerobic
digestion. In this review the most modern worldwide
enzymatic, fluorescent and molecular methods and parameters
for functional control of the technologies for biogas
production are discussed.

Various fouling effects
influencing the surface characteristics of polyamide membranes
were investigated by using primary treated water from ceramics
manufacturing process and monitoring the fouling layer on the
surfaces of the membranes. The obtained data were analyzed in
choosing suitable membranes surpass hydrophobicity and minimum
fouling deposition. Using of conventional polyamide with
standard RO has faced many problems which let the system
failed in treatment of industrial wastewater with high
turbidity and high concentration of total suspended solids
(TSS).

Low fouling membranes have been used instead of
conventional RO membranes in this study. The obtained results
indicate less fouling of membranes surface and flux stability.
The RO membrane modification solved the problem of treatment
of wastewater from ceramic industry in Ras Al Khaimah (RAK)
City, UAE.